Pages

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Sicilian Pasta con Sarde - St. Joseph's Pasta

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a simple, but classic, Sicilian pasta that has Arabic overtones. The sauce is made with tomatoes, fennel, raisins, sardines and pine nuts. It is usually spooned over a broad or tubular pasta and then topped with a generous sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs. While I have chosen a simple toss and top application, some cooks prefer to create multiple layers using these ingredients. The breadcrumbs in the dish are used in place of cheese and at one time they actually served that function for the poor. They also have a symbolic importance for those who observe St. Joseph's Day. As you know, Joseph was a carpenter and the breadcrumbs that crown this dish are used because they resemble the sawdust that would be found on the floor of a carpenter's workshop. Pasta con sarde is also known as St. Joseph's pasta, and in those communities where his feast day is still celebrated, you'll find this pasta on family tables, as well as on symbolic altars set up to feed the poor. The dish is easy to make and the sardines give it a unique, though not unpleasant flavor. It, quite simply, tastes of the sea. Raisins are used in Sicilian cooking to provide sweetness and they pair beautifully with the fennel in this recipe. I hope you'll be adventurous and give this earthy peasant dish a try. I really think you'll enjoy it. Here's the recipe.

I love pasta with raisins in it! My moms brother even put them in his meatballs, when their family comes from California to visit I always make this dish.. The sardines make it a salty sweet flavor... just perfect yours is making my mouth water will try the recipes, he put cracker crumbs thats about the only difference!

Such an interesting pasta dish - I think St. Joseph himself would have been quite pleased! I might have to smush up the sardines though - I can eat them if I don't know they're there and enjoy them quite a bit - but then maybe I just need to grow up :)

This dish really does smack of humble food that has been dressed up with little touches that make it a festive dish ... a little sweetness, a little green, a bit of special treatment for the 'sawdust' - it all makes for such a special dish for celebrating St. Joseph! Great post!

Hi Mary, I enjoyed this dish at a local restaurant in honor of St. Joseph's Day. It is one of my favorite pasta dishes,part of my family's heritage, and quite simply, soul food for me! This is a good and fairly authentic recipe. My grandmother used fresh sardines but they are not always easy to find. xo

The flavors in here sound fantastic. I've never heard of this type before but I am drawn to all the interesting ingredient combinations. Sardines, pine nuts, raisins....so good. I look forward to trying it out.

Hi. I have been searching for an authentic version of this recipe. The mother of my college roommate used to make this sauce and send it "home" with us to college. I wish I had asked her for her version. This seems very similar. I look forward to giving it a try. One question, when you add the canned sardines, do you use the oil that comes with them or just the fish? Thank you.

Eating it as we speak but topped with grated Romano, not breadcrumbs. Grew up on this dish, was feeling nostalgic and had to h ave " soul" food tonight for dinner. Half Sicilian and missing me familia.

I grew up in a small sicilian village in Louisiana. Independence was founded by several Sicilian iimmigrant, my Grandparents being one ofdinner. The St. Joseph Feast Day was a bid event. There was a parade with the Alter society carrying the statue of the blessed Mother Mary. People would stop the statues to pin money on her and ask for special blessings. After the parade was over there would be many St Joseph alters to attend. My favorite part was the Pasta Al con sarde. Because it was a meatless meal, sometimes whole boiled eggs were served with the gravy. Combined with the mudecia, bucatina and gravy, it is still my favorite Sunday dinner.

Site Meter

Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information with third-parties nor does it store information about your visit for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at anytime by modifying your Internet browser's settings. Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a a users prior visits to this website. Google's use of the DoubleClick cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads. This blog is not responsible for the republishing of the content found here on other Web sites or media without the owners permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice